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"but it would be simply impossible to build a device like my Garmin Descent Mk2 smart watch / dive computer with a user-serviceable battery while still maintain

"but it would be simply impossible to build a device like my Garmin Descent Mk2 smart watch / dive computer with a user-serviceable battery while still maintaining 100m water resistance. It just can't be done." That's been a solved problem for a very, very long time. Even older battery-operated dive watches have user-serviceable batteries. My Tekmagic is user-replaceable. The gaskets and tolerance ranges are well-understood for this sort of thing.

mvid 4y ago
Replacing a battery once a year in a laborious process isn't an acceptable comparison for a device who's battery lasts a week at best.
- Nullabillity 4y ago
  Nobody's saying that they have to be single-use batteries? Just that the rechargeable ones should be replaceable once they reach the end of their lifetime.
nradov 4y ago
No that's completely incorrect. It is not a solved problem. Those Tekmagic devices have very limited functionality and are not real smart watches or fitness trackers like the Garmin Descent series. A smart watch draws more power than a replaceable CR2025 coin cell battery can sustain. (I had a similar old Suunto wristwatch style dive computer with a replaceable battery so I am very familiar with the differences.)
- lightedman 4y ago
  "No that's completely incorrect. It is not a solved problem." We have IP6X-rated USB connectors. Charge port is a solved problem. Gaskets and seal plates are gaskets and seal plates, nothing really special about them. Solved problem. The battery probably won't need to be replaced for a few years, we aren't talking a coin cell, we're talking a mini-pouch like what already exists in these watches. I do work in this industry. It's a solved problem, has been for several decades.
- potamic 4y ago
  I think the point was not so much to use replaceable coin cells, but introduce a rechargeable lithium battery with a standard interface and form factors that can be adopted by all devices. It doesn't seem impossible on the outset, but no manufacturer has incentive to do so.
  - nradov 4y ago
    That is impossible. A rechargeable lithium battery the size of a CR2025 would be useless for a device which draws so much power. Make the battery any bigger and then you'd have to increase the size of the device, which is already at the limit.
    - potamic 4y ago
      Smart watches already use rechargeable lithium batteries of a few hundred mAh which are tiny enough to fit in the watch. You just need to standardize the interface and form factors across the industry. Again, not suggesting to use CR2025 form factor, you can always define a new one. Most watches in the market already use very similar battery packs, it just isn't standardized.

mvid 4y ago

Replacing a battery once a year in a laborious process isn't an acceptable comparison for a device who's battery lasts a week at best.

Nullabillity 4y ago
Nobody's saying that they have to be single-use batteries? Just that the rechargeable ones should be replaceable once they reach the end of their lifetime.

nradov 4y ago

No that's completely incorrect. It is not a solved problem. Those Tekmagic devices have very limited functionality and are not real smart watches or fitness trackers like the Garmin Descent series. A smart watch draws more power than a replaceable CR2025 coin cell battery can sustain. (I had a similar old Suunto wristwatch style dive computer with a replaceable battery so I am very familiar with the differences.)

lightedman 4y ago
"No that's completely incorrect. It is not a solved problem." We have IP6X-rated USB connectors. Charge port is a solved problem. Gaskets and seal plates are gaskets and seal plates, nothing really special about them. Solved problem. The battery probably won't need to be replaced for a few years, we aren't talking a coin cell, we're talking a mini-pouch like what already exists in these watches. I do work in this industry. It's a solved problem, has been for several decades.
potamic 4y ago
I think the point was not so much to use replaceable coin cells, but introduce a rechargeable lithium battery with a standard interface and form factors that can be adopted by all devices. It doesn't seem impossible on the outset, but no manufacturer has incentive to do so.
- nradov 4y ago
  That is impossible. A rechargeable lithium battery the size of a CR2025 would be useless for a device which draws so much power. Make the battery any bigger and then you'd have to increase the size of the device, which is already at the limit.
  - potamic 4y ago
    Smart watches already use rechargeable lithium batteries of a few hundred mAh which are tiny enough to fit in the watch. You just need to standardize the interface and form factors across the industry. Again, not suggesting to use CR2025 form factor, you can always define a new one. Most watches in the market already use very similar battery packs, it just isn't standardized.